


a few of my favorite things

by t_l_n



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M, Pining Shiro (Voltron), Pre-Kerberos Mission, Pre-Slash, Sassy Matt, Shiro & Matt bromance, evasive Keith
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-08
Updated: 2017-03-08
Packaged: 2018-10-01 08:03:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10184642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/t_l_n/pseuds/t_l_n
Summary: There were few people in the Galaxy Garrison who shared Shiro's affection for books. One person in particular intrigued Shiro beyond any measure.





	

**Author's Note:**

> this was written for Shiro's birthday, because I wanted him to have some rest. so, pre-Kerberos, where everything is still good and future is bright.

Only few people in the Garrison read actual books. They took a lot of space, were easily torn and sometimes heavy, required external sources of light - the list of disadvantages could be continued forever, and ninety nine of hundred cadets would agree to it. Shiro was that one in a hundred who preferred a paper book to a digital one. He inherited his love for printed books from his parents, who'd gained it from theirs. Reading books could easily be called the tradition of the Shirogane family, and Shiro was proud to keep this tradition. 

Since the Garrison's brass graced him with private quarters instead of a bunk in the barracks (for his “prominent achievements and outstanding skills”), he brought there a small part of his own private library to always keep his favorite books close. As a rule, people who knew about his soft spot for books considered this hobby to be rather unusual. Even Matt called him a book worm from time to time, earning amicable "nerd" in return. Nevertheless, it didn't stop him from brining books from his father's library to Shiro. He even bought an old and worn copy of the "Brief History of Time" for Shiro once. And Shiro knew for sure that Matt had to look for it intentionally because there was no good book store in the small town close to the Garrison where they spent their leaves. 

Long story short, the situation of books in the Galaxy Garrison and its vicinity wasn't that great. More like, it was really bad. Awful. Awfully bad. So Shiro was sure he had every right to react in the way he did when he noticed a book on the table in the far corner of the mess. Worn paperback spoke of being read many times; cover completely black with four white digits "1984" - was all that took Shiro's heart to start racing. Hoping that by placing their book on the table its owner reserved the table and would come soon enough, Shiro took a chair at the opposite table with a good visual on the book and observed it keenly, absentmindedly listening to Matt's chatter. Cadets passed through the table, glancing at the book in disbelief. Matt stole two pieces of meat from Shiro's plate, one at a time, when Shiro tried to compel the Owner to come. Time passed but there was no sign of anyone coming. 

"Just go get it," Matt blurted when his third attempt on stealing food from Shiro had been succeeded. It was a pretty endearing task usually.  
"Get who?" Shiro blinked as he turned his face to Matt for the first time since they got there.  
"Oh, I wish it was a who. The book," Matt waved his hand in the direction of the book he guessed from Shiro's stare. "There's always a book somewhere when you're staring with such a hungry eyes. I doubt someone’s coming to pick it up. And the lunch time is almost over, so they'll burn that book with other flammable garbage. Besides, there may be a name on it, so you can return it to its owner."  
"I will. If no one comes," answered Shiro managing to place himself comfortably on the chair with a clear resolve to wait for the Owner till the very last. 

Matt revealed a noise somewhere in-between of sneezing and snorting, so Shiro wasn't sure whether it was a sign of dissent or a sudden allergy to the stolen meat.  
"As entertaining as it is to watch over you and your heart's desire, I have to leave you. I promised Katie to contact her. Have been promising for the whole week, actually. So if I don't do it now, you’ll have all the chances to attend my funeral in the nearest future."  
"Run for it," Shiro smiled affectionately, remembering a small active tornado of Matt's little sister. "Say hi from me. Tell her I'm looking forward to her joining us in the Garrison".  
"Eaasy, Shirogane," Matt threatened Shiro with his finger, "get your thoughts away from my sister. Better watch this book of yours".  
"It's not mine yet."  
"Yet," Matt emphasized. 

Shiro smiled watching Matt's back disappearing in the crowd and returned his attention to the book. As Matt had predicted, no one came to pick it up, so the moment cleaning robots flooded the mess, Shiro was fast to pick it up himself. As Matt had predicted, it was singed. There was a scribble on the first page in hurried, messy and slightly awkward handwritings which usually belonged to people whose mind worked times faster than their hand could possibly write: "1P3F0058". It reminded Shiro of a randomly generated identification number each cadet was given after joining the Garrison. It was a long shot but it was worth it.  
Shiro promised himself he would find the Owner of the book. 

***

The accident in the mess was first in the streak of many. Le Guin on the rooftop of the third building, Huxley on the bench in the gym's locker room, Azimov inside one of classes, and more Orwell inside the very flight simulator. Each bore the "1P3F0058" on the first page. Shiro picked them up and put them on the separate shelf in his room; read those he hadn't read yet. There were familiar handwritings in pencil on the pages, commentaries and notes, underlined sentences, phrases and passages the Owner apparently agreed to or found interesting. The more books Shiro read the more interested he become in the Owner. In time he even started to reread books he was familiar with just to get the Owners opinion on them. Sometimes their opinions coincided, sometimes they didn't and Shiro argued with the notes. He noticed he was doing it aloud when he heard his own voice bouncing off the walls of his room. 

The attempts to identify the owner were fruitless. Even Shiro's charisma, charm and "outstanding skills" didn't help him to find out who they were. The Garrison vigorously protected personal information of its cadets and officers. Or at least it was true for Shiro. When he told Matt about it Holt only snorted mysteriously. The next day he laid a white envelope before Shiro with an enigmatic look only a true Holt could master. There was only one sheet of paper inside with two words printed on it: _"Kogane, Keith"_.

"Is this what I think it is?" Shiro asked.  
"I don't know what you're thinking, I'm not a psychic," Matt shrugged his shoulders, smug smile on his face. "But if you happen to think I've hacked the Garrison's security systems just because I'm _so_ done with my best friend pining over some eight symbols of a code and it's my present for his birthday, which isn't even a thing this year, you would be mistaken. Because this theory is ridiculous and doesn't stand a chance of proving. But you can pine over a name all you want now, so you're welcome."  
Shiro looked at a sheet of paper which was trembling in his hands.  
"Actually, I know the face behind the name," Shiro told in slightly hoarse voice.  
"You do? How come?"  
"You know him too. You just have forgotten it in some surprising turn of events. And I really don't want to remind you, but you've earned it, I guess. Keith Kogane, the first-year who's beating my simulation scores?"  
"Oh. _The_ Keith Kogane," Matt looked embarrassed with himself. "How could I've forgotten? I pledged to remember him for the rest of your life. Well, I guess now I have to remember him not as someone who can beat your ass in simulations, but as someone who earned the same hungry eyes you make when you're looking at old dusty tomes. And you'd better try to talk to him soon, or else. You know me, Shirogane, I don't joke around such things.”  
"Actually, I've already kinda tried once. His lack of desire to talk to me was quite obvious back then."  
"That's because you talked to him as Takashi Shirogane, the Garrison's golden boy, best pilot of your generation and the guy he must've been constantly compared to. Try as the book worm Shiro you are this time."  
"You think it changes anything?" Shiro frowned.  
"Ninety eight percent sure." Matt nodded. "Come on, the guy's leaving signed books all over the Garrison, he clearly wants to talk to someone. He just tends to overcomplicate things. So stop sulking, take one of your books and go talk to him."

Appreciating his advice, Shiro put his hand on Matt’s shoulder, which made the latter bend a little. Shiro didn’t even noticed, as he rushed to his quarters contemplating which book Keith would find interesting based on those he had found. Shiro didn't want his second attempt in approaching him to be as futile as the first one. The first time he wasn't interested in a cadet himself much, but now, after months of reading his books and his notes, Shiro felt they had something in common. He thought he understood the guy better now and grasped his way of thinking to the extent of being able to foresee his opinion on some plot twists or ideas in the books. It made Shiro experience the feeling of connection with a stranger. And, frankly speaking, Shiro didn't even register him as a stranger by that time. But he knew that he himself was no more than a stranger to Keith, minus the rumors and stories of Takashi Shirogane he might have heard in the halls and corridors of the Garrison. Shiro has never felt uncomfortable because of all the talks around him before. He did now, considering they might affect Keith’s attitude towards him. He didn't want to be turned down again because of it. 

***

Finding Keith was easy. Shiro figured he could find him either in the gym or in the simulation hall, where he'd found books more often than in other places. After a brief conversation with someone from Keith's class, he confirmed that Keith went for a simulation and hurried there. There were only few people who would willingly condemn themselves to be stuck inside simulators out of classes in order to improve their skills. As far as Shiro understood from the conversation with Keith's classmates, he belonged to rather rare kind of cadets who thought there was no better ways to spend your time than to go through simulations every spare minute. Keith was so good at piloting not because of sheer luck and instincts, but also because of numerous trainings and tactical patterns he'd created during his practice. Shiro could tell that much from observing Keith’s simulation.

Keith was going through the simulation with the swiftness of a dancer. His ship, displayed on the outer monitor, was storming through the asteroid field surprisingly smoothly. Shiro was familiar with this simulation: it was a high-class one, where success would be considered only if a pilot managed to cross the tricky asteroid field without a scratch. Each pilot had their own tactics and little tricks which helped them to finish this simulation but in general all of them used common patterns. Keith led his spacecraft unlike anyone else. Sometimes he rushed (almost jumped, Shiro would say if he didn’t know Garrison’s ships couldn’t jump) from one asteroid to another, dived sharply under the next one and evaded multiple especially difficult objects in an elegant arch. Keith was a fiery whip: nimble and flexible but sharp, burning and biting at the same time. It got Shiro completely mesmerized in front of the display, plunged into the simulation together with Keith.

Shiro thought he had understood how Keith was thinking and what was leading him, but this was something different. This was so unlike the reasonable and cold-minded reader Shiro had been used to, he almost started to doubt if Matt had given him the right name. 

Shiro took a deep breath trying to calm his racing heart and the next moment the door slid open with a hiss and Keith stepped out of the cabin. His forehead was touched by sweat and his shoulders were trembling either with an adrenalin rush or with exhaustion. He was smiling self-contentedly but the smile weakened when he noticed Shiro.

“Amazing job,” Shiro felt that he owed Keith vocalization of his thoughts, even if it went so bluntly. “Keith Kogane, right?”  
“Takashi Shirogane,” he nodded. “We met.”  
“Just Shiro’s fine,” he was quick to suggest, but Keith remained unaffected.  
“The simulator’s free but I’d wait for a couple of minutes for it to cool down a bit.”  
“Yeah, thanks,” Shiro wavered. He had never felt so uneasy with someone before. Probably, because he had never been concerned with a possibility of being rejected until Keith. “Actually, I didn’t come here for a simulation. 1P3F0058, right?”  
Keith rounded his eyes in surprise. He involuntarily stepped back, but concealed the movement by readjusting his bag. Although it was smooth, Shiro noticed the movement. Matt was right and Shiro owed him an apology for doubting his best friend. 

“I thought personal details were confidential,” Keith frowned.  
“They are,” Shiro confirmed, contemplating whether he should elaborate on how he’d got his name or leave it alone and not bring up Matt just yet. “I was looking for you and I’ve got lucky, I suppose. Your books nicely added to my library.”  
“Oh,” Keith eloquently sighed. “So it was you who picked them up. I thought they were burnt.”  
“Wouldn’t it be a shame?”  
“I have my reasons to wish for it,” Keith tensed again. “Do you want anything in particular?”  
“Uh. Yeah. Here” Shiro confidently stretched out his hand with a book in it. “I figured you might like it, considering what I’ve got from the books I’d found.”

Keith took a long look at the book and laughed softly. Shiro could swear it was one of the most beautiful sounds he’d ever heard, right after the sound of a roaring engine and the sound of a thunder closing in. While Shiro was trying to clear his head, Keith reached out for something in his bag. It was a different edition of the same _Inter Ice Age 4_ by Kobo Abe Shiro’d brought him.  
“I’ve just finished it, actually,” Keith said with a smile.  
“So we can discuss it already,” Shiro assumed smiling back at him. “Do you have a time?”  
“Oh, I have all the time from now till the morning,” Keith was gleaming. “I hope you won’t lecture me on the rules?”  
“Being outside of our quarters after the curfew may lead to a temporary ban on simulations for you and actual flights for me,” Shito said in one piece of breath. “But as long as you acknowledge it, that’s all I’m going to tell you as a senior cadet.  
“That’s not what I expected to hear from Takashi Shirogane,” Keith chuckled.  
“Prepare to being amazed more than once, then,” Shiro felt wide smirk forming on his face but he couldn’t help it. “And name’s Shiro, please.”  
“Keith,” he outstretched his hand and Shiro shook it. “It’s nice to finally meet _you_.”  
“The pleasure’s mine.”

As Keith’s hand brushed against his, Shiro had a strange feeling similar to the beginning of a new chapter of a book. He felt that something important had just started.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading!  
> kudos and comments are highly appreciated.


End file.
